Early Cyanogen builds of Android 4.0 arrive

Android hackers are working overtime to bring Ice Cream Sandwich into the real world, and the early fruits of their labour are starting to emerge — if you have the right phone.

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The CyanogenMod project to build unofficial versions of Android is working on CM9, which is based on the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich source code from Google. Early CM9 builds are available in alpha for the Samsung Nexus S and beta for the Samsung Galaxy S.

"CyanogenMod 9 Alpha 11 for Nexus S is definitely worth checking out," programmer Koushik 'Koush' Dutta said on Google+ on Sunday. And it's pretty mature, he added: "Usable as a daily driver."

Those who are not quite so adventurous can wait for better-tested versions of CyanogenMod; the stable version of CM9 is expected in about two months.

Unofficial builds of Android give smartphone customers a way to get the newer builds of Android before their handset makers and mobile phone wireless operators provide official versions — which often they never do. For example, Sony Ericsson pledged to bring Ice Cream Sandwich to all its 2011 phones, which means X10 customers will have to rely on an unofficial build.

For more on this ZDNet UK-selected story, see Feeling bold? First Cyanogen builds of Android 4.0 arrive on CNET News.